Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is a re-interpretation of the Fortune City outbreak in Dead Rising 2 in which Frank West is the lead character instead of Chuck Greene. The story is non-canon to the overall storyline in the series, a "what-if" alternate reality had Frank been in Fortune City to cover the outbreak. Frank even states in the trailer: "What would I have done?"Spencer, On The Record With Dead Rising 2: Off The Record’s Producer, Siliconera, (July 17, 2011). "It’s definitely a what-if, a parallel universe. Canon would be more of the Dead Rising 2 story with Chuck Greene and how that launched into the Case West story as well." The game was released for the Xbox 360, Play Station 3, and PC as a full retail disc for $39.99. In a quickly retracted June 30 posting, Capcom originally stated Off the Record will be released in North America on the 11th October 2011, and in Europe on the 14th.Captivate 2011: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Capcom, (April 12, 2011). Caoili, Eric. Capcom Announces Dragon's Dogma, Dead Rising 2 Spin-Off, Gamasutra, (April 12, 2011). The game "will ship as a physical product, not downloadable content". Chester, Nick. Preview: Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, Destructoid, (April 12, 2011).Andy, E3 2011: Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Hands-On Impressions, vgrevolution, (June 08, 2011)Jonah Falcon, IGN - Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Dated, IGN.Dead Rising 2: Off the Record briefly dated October 14, Strategy Informer. (July 1, 2011). On July 20, 2011 these dates were officially confirmed.Brendan Sinclair, Dead Rising 2 goes Off the Record Oct. 11, GameSpot, (July 20, 2011). Introduction The entire game is a "What If?" scenario where Frank West covered the Fortune City outbreak, instead of Chuck Greene. After surviving the Dead Rising zombie outbreak, Frank West quickly became a bit of a celebrity. After authoring a successful book, he is given his own talk show. But like many "flash in the pan" celebrities, he squanders his opportunities and soon finds that his fifteen minutes are up.Chester, Nick. Preview: Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, Destructoid, (April 12, 2011). Desperate to get back on top, or at least earn some money, West is offered an opportunity that he hopes will turn things around. The producers of Terror is Reality, the American Gladiators-style zombie-killing television show, invite him to appear as a special guest. Down on his luck and thinking things couldn't get any worse, he heads to Fortune City to get back in the spotlight. The opening moments of Off the Record parallel that of Dead Rising 2 in one way and one way only -- it starts off with the hero participating in a Terror is Reality event. At the beginning of the event, West, wearing a wrestling outfit, is lifted via platform to the center of a ring surrounded by a chain-link fence. Joining him in the ring is a group of zombies in which he must defeat as many as possible within a certain time limit. There is a grinder on each corner of the ring, and West can jump on top of these to activate them. They chew up zombies factory machines mulching meat. The twins from Dead Rising 2 attack West. "This must be so embarrassing for you," one says. "Doesn't look like those baldness remedies worked too well," says the other. Yin-Poole, Wesley. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Eurogamer (April 12, 2011). Even though he won the event, West feels that he has lost his dignity and decides to take his prize money and get out of Fortune City. As he is leaving, Frank observes from a series of catwalks above a large, warehouse-like room as TK speaks with Brandon Whittaker. TK hands Brandon a suitcase full of cash, for a package that looks like a time bomb and a keycard. Frank takes a picture of this gaining prestige points.Rosenberg, Adam. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record First Look Preview, G4tv, (April 12, 2011). Frank is caught eavesdropping, and Frank must kill three mercenaries with melee attacks. The outbreak occurs shortly after which is similar to Dead Rising 2. Frank must fight his way through the back corridors of the arena, eventually making his way out to the main entrance and, eventually, the strip. As Frank makes his way out, a few references to Dead Rising 2 can be seen. A TIR poster of Frank in his wrestling outfit is left only half-covering a similar poster of Chuck Greene. Frank also comes across a discarded child's backpack and portable video game device in an empty green room. After escaping the arena, Frank finds Fortune City overrun with zombies. He makes his way to the safehouse, where he meets Ray Sullivan, the only security officer that made it to the safe house. Sullivan tells Frank that he knows he is infected. Frank, infected by the zombie virus as part of the Dead Rising canon, will need to find and use Zombrex at regular intervals. Frank pulls out some Zombrex to prove he has it and then Sullivan lets him in. Story After watching a news report with Stacey Forsythe, he begins investigating the claims that CURE is responsible for the outbreak. He meets up with an old friend of his, Rebecca Chang, and together they venture off to the Arena to check out the video monitors that recorded Brandon arming explosives, only to find the security room has been ransacked. With a dead end, Frank returns to the Safe House after Stacey calls him, saying that Sullivan is threatening to kick her out. Later, the two observe Brandon on the security monitors dragging a woman into the bathrooms at Uranus Zone. Frank heads over there to confront Brandon, only to witness Vikki murdered and is suddenly attacked by Brandon. After he is defeated, he questions Stacey with the information he got out of Brandon. Stacey reassures Frank that Brandon was only a new recruit and probably working for TK. Spotting more people on the monitors, Frank investigates several men moving equipment in the Underground. The men are goons working for Tyrone King, loading equipment onto a train under TK's orders. When Frank is spotted, TK takes off on the train but Frank manages to board at the last minute. After defeating the mercenaries on board, he confronts TK, only to be shot at and separated from his as TK unlatches the locomotive from the rest of the cars. After returning to the Safe House, explosions are felt and it turns out TK is robbing the city's casinos. Frank stops the robberies and saves Rebecca from an explosion from the armored van outside the Americana Casino. Brought back to the Safe House, Rebecca explains that she has a meeting with her source later that night. When Frank goes to meet up with Rebecca at an Americana Casino restaurant, it is revealed that Rebecca has been kidnapped by TK. He demands $1,000,000 in exchange for her life. After running around the city collecting money, Frank heads to the Shoal Nightclub where TK's Bodyguard takes the money and leaves as Amber and Crystal Bailey show up with the tied-up Rebecca. The twins are eventually defeated as one is killed and the other commits suicide. Rebecca is saved again and brought to the Safe House once more. Rebecca informs Frank that TK is planning to leave the city via helicopter that is to land on the Fortune City Hotel rooftop. The pair make their way to the hotel and manage to cause TK's Helicopter to crash, killing the pilot and bodyguard while TK was thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious. Now locked up at the Safe House, the survivors await rescue. Frank and Rebecca go out to the streets to film and photograph the military rescue, only to witness it go horribly wrong as gas is released and the soldiers are slaughtered. Frank spots Rebecca running through the streets and he goes after her. He finds Rebecca in an underground parking lot beneath the Yucatan Casino, captured by the now-crazy Sergeant Dwight Boykin. He is forced to battle the deranged commander in order to save Rebecca, who is once again brought back to the Safe House. The survivors discuss about what happened to the military squad and Rebecca says the gas must have mutated the zombies. As Frank goes out to the Underground to investigate the origin, Sullivan warns that another rescue is to be attempted, but if it fails, a firebombing will be called in which the entire city will be eradicated. Frank finds out that a Phenotrans operation has been set up in which they have been collecting Queens and the gas has been used to quicken the harvesting process, as it mutates the zombies to force out the Queens after killing them. Frank defeats a number of mercenaries and kills Mark Bradson and Pearce Stephens, two hostile Phenotrans scientists. He takes their computer and shows the evidence to Stacey, Sullivan, and Rebecca. Just as Rebecca was going to call her station for rescue, she is shot in the stomach by Stacey, who stole Sullivan's gun. Sullivan then takes a bullet in the chest and falls to the ground. Frank is about to be shot when Sullivan attacks her, only to be shot down twice more, killing him. Frank then tackles Stacey but she manages to escape, though he was able to pull off her fake ponytail. Chasing her out to Fortune Park, Frank finds several harvesters that have been deployed with Phenotrans Mercenaries guarding them. He kills the armed goons and destroys the harvesting equipment before facing Stacey in a final show down at Uranus Zone. When he arrives, Stacey reveals she is a Phenotrans Agent going by the codename of "Agent S." They have a lengthy argument about the morals of outbreaks, then she attacks him. He is able to destroy the machine she resides in and fight her in the machine's cockpit. She is thrown out of the cockpit, but drags Frank with her to the ground where she beats him and retrieves her gun. She is about to shoot him when he rolls out of the way and she is crushed to death by the falling machine. Frank returns to the Safe House as Tamara Stein and Skylar Ali, the last of the survivors, are ready to be evacuated. He asks about Rebecca's and Sullivan's bodies being loaded but the two don't know anything about it. Simon Bostwick calls out to Frank saying that they need to leave but Frank refuses to leave without making sure the dead have been flown out of the city. The helicopter leaves and Frank heads to the office to find Sullivan still there, but Rebecca missing, only her press tag remaining. Overtime Now standing alone in the safe house, Frank gets a call from TK, telling him that Rebecca is alive and if he wants to save her from her wounds, he has to go around the city to get supplies for her, along with items for TK. After getting the items and returning to the arena, Frank is knocked out by TK where he awakens in the arena and is forced to survive against the zombies during the TIR game. While TK watches from a catwalk, Rebecca slowly crawls over to a rope and pushes it down to Frank, then pushes a button to make the rope pull up. Rebecca is then knocked out again as Frank grasps on to the rope and is lifted onto the catwalk. Frank and TK then engage in battle, and soon TK grabs Frank and attempts to choke him and toss him over the edge of the catwalk, but Frank flips TK off the platform. He then gets Rebecca and they leave the arena together. Endings Features :See Comparisons between Dead Rising 2 and Off the Record Development Off the Record executive producer Jason Leigh explains: "Originally, the plan was that we were going to do a 'Director's Cut' of Dead Rising 2. Capcom has a long history of successful 'Director's Cuts," especially with the Resident Evil series, and we wanted to bring that treatment to the Dead Rising franchise...But when Dead Rising 2 was first announced, something strange happened...Fans of the franchise were excited for its return, and the development team was confident players would click with the game's strong new hero, Chuck Greene. But the feedback was clear. Many felt that something was missing. That "something" was Frank West, as fans asked, "Why did you take our hero away?...What this did for us and for this product was to create an incredibly interesting opportunity. What if, instead of doing a director's cut, what if we re-envisioned the outbreak in Fortune City with Frank West as the hero. What would that do to missions? What would that do to story? What would that do to the gameplay, bringing him back with his camera?" On September 13th, 2016, Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising 2: Off The Record were released on PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, fully remastered. All three games (digitally) are $19.99 USD each, while there are only physical versions of Dead Rising, and Dead Rising 2. There is a bundle available for $59.99, which includes all three remastered titles. Marketing Dead Rising 2: Off the Record was first announced on April 12, 2011 at Captive 2011, a Capcom-sponsored event.Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Trailer, Details Released, Cinemablend, (April 12, 2011). Some of the game's new components were revealed at the E3 Expo in June 2011, including the Electric Crusher, Cosplay Warrior Skills Pack, and Chuck's jacket. A Facebook page (April 22, 2011) and YouTube page (July 26, 2011) were created to promote Off the Record.Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Official Dead Rising's Channel, youtube. (July 26, 2011).Dead Rising, Facebook (April 22, 2011). In regards to criticisms that Capcom is cashing in, Leigh stated that "There might be a possibility of about this release...but that's certainly not how we're regarding this game. We're regarding this game as something that is actually very different and very fresh and very new. Yes it is Fortune City, it's the Fortune City outbreak, but in this re-envisioning and bringing Frank back into the game, even that first 15 minutes is quite different than it was." "If fans have any reservations about this, hopefully the stuff we're rolling out in the next several months as we approach the release in the fall, things like E3 which is next, there will be more big announcements and more of those big features being shown off, very quickly people will realize, wow, there's a lot of added value in this game."Priest, Simon. Capcom defends against 'cash-in' cries at DR2: Off the Record, Strategy Informer, (April 13, 2011).Fletcher, J.C. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record puts Frank West in Chuck Greene's shoes, Joystiq, (April 12, 2011). "But mostly, it's an "enhancement" to the amount of money Capcom can get out of Dead Rising 2. Between this and the XBLA games, this is the fourth game to bear the title Dead Rising 2." ;Browser demo for free The gaming website Eurogamer had a free demo of Off the Record that was playable in one's web browser, through the gaming service Gaikai. As of 2017, the demo is no longer available.Eurogamer Reception Off the Record received average reviews, with a score of 73 and 72 on Metacritic for the Xbox 360Metacritic and PlayStation 3 respectively.Metacritic Gametrailers gave the game an overall rating of 8.2 out of 10.Gametrailers IGN gave it a 7 out of 10.IGN GameSpot gave the title a 7 out of 10 rating, praising the core game but criticizing the lack of improvements and the sandbox mode's perceived lack of depth.GameSpot Game Informer, by contrast, gave the game a 9.5/10 (the same score as the original) saying that "Frank's photography adds another layer to the already deep gameplay," and that "by itself, the sandbox mode is an incentive to buy Dead Rising 2."Jeff Cork, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Review, Game Informer, Issue 223, (November 2011). As of 2 February, 2012 the game had sold 500,000 units outside of Japan.Wesley Yin-Poole, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record "faring well", Euro Gamer, (2 February, 2012). Trivia *There is no ending A in Off the Record, because ending A is the canon ending and since OTR is out of continuity, there is no canon ending. **According to the official game guide, Ending A is technically the ending that leads into Overtime and Ending S. *Although it is canon that Frank was at the Fortune City outbreak, he wasn't there until the third day where he would save Chuck from TK in the elevator after ending A and Chuck, not knowing that Stacey had enough evidence to clear his name, felt a need to do it himself, thus Case West was born. *During the course of the game unlike Chuck and Frank's other iterations, Frank now makes verbal comments about his surroundings, other characters and survivors, and about what he's doing, a first for the series. **When Frank saves Terri and Willa he says "Have you girls noticed you all sound alike?" which is a reference to most if not all female survivors in the game having the same or similar voice over/clips. **After Frank exits the vents at the beginning of the game he'll say: "They never think of the vents." or "What is it with me and vents?" a clear reference to how he get in and out between the Willamette Parkview Mall and safe house in his first call to action in Dead Rising. *If you look in the lens of Frank's camera in the Off The Record ''logo, there is a white silhouette of Chun-Li, from Capcom's ''Street Fighter series. *In Dead Rising 2 when a psychopath was beaten the body would disappear. This was changed in Off The Record as it was in Dead Rising with the bodies staying in place (With the exception of Chuck Greene), possibly because of the bonus camera PP points. *If you have a Save File from Dead Rising 2, Chuck's outfit will be unlocked at the Safehouse. *All the notebook pictures compared to DR2 are better. This may be referencing that since Frank is a photographer and Chuck isn't they look a lot more professional or even implying Frank took the photos himself. *A large handful of the fanbase still believes Off the Record to be canon to the main series. This is false, as Capcom has stated numerous times that Dead Rising 2 is canon and Off the Record is a completely separate reality from the main series. **However, it is rumored that if Off the Record did well enough, Capcom had planned change the main canon to it and make Dead Rising 2 non canon. This obviously never happened. *Most of the psychopaths in Off the Record have less health than they did in Dead Rising 2. *When the player defeats Chuck in the mission People Like Us, Frank will say " I swear I met that guy somewhere before". This can either refer to co-op gameplay or it can refer to Dead Rising 2: Case West. *The cover of Saints Row 4 may be partially based off of Off the Record's cover. *In the background of the loading screen, a portion of text on a tabloid infers that a former Terror is Reality contestant had been administered emergency CPR after a motorcycle crash. This may actually be referring to Chuck Greene, who is not seen anywhere at the Arena prior to and during the outbreak (though a cardboard stand of his likeness can be spotted in the locker room halls). It is not stated when this article was printed. *Action movie star Clint Rockfoot is again found on Off the Record combo card posters. *Destructiod writes: "Off the Record isn't just changed in terms of adding photography to the mix. The entire world has been transformed to reflect our new story. Posters of Chuck Greene promoting his appearance on Terror is Reality are now covered with advertisements of Frank doing the same, for example." *Greene is also the second character in Off the Record's co-op mode.Frushtick, Russ. 'Dead Rising 2: Off The Record' First Look - Go West, Young Man, MTV, (April 12, 2011). *Frank is older in this game. To show this, when Frank idles too long he will stretch out his back and groan a little bit. *On the pause menu, the two red dice on the right side of the screen have a different number face up every time the pause menu is brought up. *During the cred-ts that roll after the "regular" game ending the track, "His Name's Frank West" by lifeseeker. After completing Overtime Mode, the cred-t-roll features the track, "Ending Cred-ts Music", composed by Oleksa Lozowchuk, which is a new "jazzier", lounge-style version of Mall Music with a prominent saxaphone playing the lead melody, rather than a piano. Glitches There are fourteen distinct glitches in Off The Record. #'Floating Objects:' This is glitch where things particularly boxes float as if it is stacked on another. These items can't be acquired in Frank's inventory. This glitch is fairly common if one pays attention. #'Ghost Doors:' ''This is glitch happens when the player tries to shut an open door and it automatically opens back up no matter from side the player opens it. #'Inoperable Doors: This glitch's action is in it's title where doors single or pair of don't work the "Open" sign does appear next to them, even the maintenance rooms doors are victims to this glitch. #'''Flying Zombies: This is very rare, this happens when a zombie is in a tight space like in a "single doorway" the zombie has to be killed in there. the zombie will slide up the doorway... dead. The player can still hit it but, it'll just be stuck at the top of the doorway. #'Zombies Stuck!?:' Sometimes if the player pays attention they'll see zombies stuck in large structures such as in the Underground areas. #'Falling Zombie:' A zombie will fall from the sky unharmed, very rare. #'Invisible Clutter:' Frank will get stuck as if there's an object in his way. He can walk around it or jump over it but he'll continue encountering it unless he enters a new area. #'Useless Weapons:' When Frank exchanges a weapon with a survivor in a certain way, the weapon Frank receives will not allow him to attack with. The only solution is to drop that weapon or restart the game. It's unknown if all types of weapons are affected by this, so far only melee weapons such as the tomahawk, the broadsword and the meat cleaver. A particular example of this glitch might be if you exchange the six shooter acquired during WWJWD for Ray's baseball bat. #'Double psychopaths?: '''When Frank kills a psychopath while he/she is healing, the psychopath death cutscene appears yet the psychopath will have two bodies. one where he/she is supposed to die, another is where you killed him/her but with a bit of heath left, sliding on the floor slowly. This is common with Antoine, since he heals a lot more often. While you can hit the psychopath as the glitch happens to kill him/her again, it won't trigger the cutscene again. #'Disappearing Notebook Portraits: After the player completes the game and starts a new save file, a few of the portraits collected from the previous playthrough may vanish from the notebook. Unknown level of rarity. #'''Invincible Flaming Zombies: '''Sometimes, zombies that are hit by a molotov cocktail thrown by a looter will continue to walk around on fire for an extended period of time and not perish. Attacks go right through these zombies and deal no damage, however they can still attack and deal regular damage to Frank. This is rather rare and the cause is currently unknown. # '''Player Stuck!?: '''Every once in a while, If the psychopath Chuck hits the player with his motorcycle hard enough, he will go flying and rather than hitting the ground and getting up, his legs will become stuck in the ground. This glitch is extremely rare and can be undone if a zombie injures the player. # '''No Messages!?: '''You must have no messages for this to work. On the third day, be at the Royal Flush Plaza entrance to the Slot Ranch Casino at 9am ( which is when Stacey will call you for the mission Ante Up). Answer the message. When Stacey starts talking, immediately enter into the Slot Ranch Casino (using the Dodge Roll skill move). You should have no messages for the rest of the game. However, the survivors and psychopaths from the messages will still appear. # '''Flying Frank!?: Rarely, when fighting Stacey after the military arrive, Frank can be hit by the UFO machines leg and thrown up into the air. After around 15 seconds he will land and only take the damage he would from the impact of the UFO normally. Gallery /Gallery}} Map See also *Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Concept Art *Comparisons between Dead Rising 2 and Off the Record * Off the Record YouTube videos - Over 30 gameplay videos posted three days before the official release date. External links *Puzzle, Capcom Japan, Puzzle game *Shooting, Capcom Japan, Shooting game References Category:Games Category:Non-canon